The Hobbit Reveals 25 Minutes Of Behind-The-Scenes Footage

With reviews officially online and critics everywhere weighing in, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is finally ready to reveal itself to the world. Even though millions of fans have read the book, the film has stayed shrouded in some mystery for a while, with promises that Peter Jackson and his collaborators had added new story elements, and the ongoing question of just how he would divide J.R.R. Tolkien's very short book into three whole movies.

You'll have to see the movie for yourself to find out how that all works, but for a more in-depth look behind the scenes than ever before, check out these five new clips from the set, showing everything from Gollum and Bilbo trading riddles in a cave to the boisterous arrival of the dwarves at Bag End. Click through the pages to see them all, with some description included to help you know what to expect. Look out for familiar faces, beautiful New Zealand scenery, Andy Serkis behind the camera, and much much more-- and see it all on the glorious big screen when An Unexpected Journey finally opens next Friday.

To kick things off, we've got some rehearsal footage of Martin Freeman without his shaggy hobbit hair (but with his hairy hobbit feet) working with Peter Jackson in both Bag End and Gollum's cave, with Andy Serkis on hand, of course, in what ought by now to be a familiar mo-cap rig. Then we see the beginnings of the unexpected party with the dwarves, including some singing and plate-throwing. You can also spot Serkis behind the camera, in his role as second-unit director.